Would you mistake this for the real thing? Italian police bust multi-million pound Mafia-run fake Ferrari racket

Last updated at 00:10 01 March 2008


To the untrained eye, this Ferrari - popular with celebrities such as David Beckham and Jamiroquai singer Jason Kay - looks like the genuine article.

But on closer inspection the vehicle bearing the famous dancing horse logo is just one of a series of bogus cars in a multi-million pound Mafia business.

Italian police busted the fake Ferrari racket, seizing more than 40 of the sports cars which were ready to be sold online.

Scroll down for more ...

Knock off: The bogus cars were dubbed 'fantastic' copies, but the interior of the fake one (top) leaves much to be desired

Undercover officers worked in backstreet garages across Italy stretching from Milan in the north to Rome in the south and the main "production line" at Agrigento and Palermo on the Mob stronghold of Sicily.

The operation was led by Palermo-based General Francesco Carofiglio, from Italy's Customs and Excise fraud squad.

Twenty-one of the fake cars were seized in Palermo and were put together using parts salvaged from stolen cars and write-offs.

Scroll down for more ...

Seeing double? The fake car (bottom) is modelled on the real thing (above)

General Carofiglio described the fake mechanics as "extremely talented" and said that they also used second-hand American Pontiacs before selling them on for a huge profit. He added that a used car cost them 3,000 Euros, while the finished product fetched 20,000-50,000 Euros.

Investigators said the buyers, who were mainly businessmen and entrepreneurs, were aware the cars were imitations rather than the genuine item.

General Carofiglio said: "What needs to be underlined is the risk of injury, the knock-off cars were not reliable.

Scroll down for more ...

Fake versions of Ferraris like this were being sold online by the Mafia

"The sales were being made on the internet and we monitored online car sales sites to keep an eye on where these fake cars were going.

"The buyers were mainly businessmen or industrialists who were fully aware they were fake but could not afford or did not want to pay the genuine prices.

"They were selling dozens each month and making millions of Euro a year. It was a very well run Mafia operation."

Those arrested are being held on suspicion of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and receiving stolen goods.

General Carofiglio said that one of the cars seized was a flaming red F360 no longer produced and which was selling at 100,000 Euro - half of what it should cost. Dozens of false Ferraris have been seized by the police in Italy over the last 25 years.

Scroll down for more ...

In the workshop the mafia churned out Ferrari fakes which could then be sold for a huge profit


The biggest bust took place near Cuneo in 1985, when investigators found 50 perfect imitations of the 1962 Ferrari GS.

• An Italian parliamentary report has warned that the Sicilian Mafia is forging new links in the US, the BBC has reported.

The report says Cosa Nostra has been sending people to America to form new alliances with families with which it had lost contact in the 1980s - and that the mob is moving in to new areas while maintaining its hold on the drugs trade.

Even the engine on the fake cars is correctly branded

Most watched News videos

{"status":"error","code":"499","payload":"Asset id not found: readcomments comments with assetId=521952, assetTypeId=1"}